The Unwilling Saviour
by kaniketh
Summary: Dar'akha is a khajit with the simple goal of becoming rich, but soon get entangled in a web of lies and political disputes. He faces dragons, mysterious merceneries and something from his past...
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! I have been absent for almost 8 months, but I am back with a vengeance. My writing skills have improved I think, And I have a good idea. A have a lot more free time. So let the story commence. I will probably upload it by Thursday. You guys can tell me what race he should be of the following.

Imperial: I think this is the race I am probably going to do on

Red guard: it might work ,but it wont have any red guard lore

Khajit: I am liking the idea of the bipedal cat

Breton: Probably not

Nord: Possibly, but I would need to make a few tweeks to the class

I am going for a thief/rogue class with skills of

1 handed swords, or daggers, maybe both

Pickpocket: HE is a thief (It can be a she if you want)

Sneak: Duh

Alchemy, Archery: Don't worry, just minor skills\

Personality: If you have read the False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielson, I am going to make his personality like Sage

Backstory: Something about him being a thief who gets caught by a rich B***, Sent to skyrim somehow, I figure it out on the way.

Questlines: Thieves guild, Imperial, And some backstory involving quest of political espionage.

So Comment so I Can finalize everything.

I have realised that the weakness with my writing was that it didn't have enough detail, and the chapters were to short. This is because the chapters were very rushed. I have more time now since I am sacrificing some other things because I was really enjoying writing.

So wait till Thursday for the most epic chapter ever. I am working hard to make it good


	2. 1 End of the line

Chapter 1

The smell of sweat invaded my nostrils as I opened my eyes._How did i get here. Analyse the situation_. I was in the back of a horse driven carriage. I looked for the driver. A nord with brown hair. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell much more from my angle. I felt my ropes for slack.. _Well the people who tied me up were definately not beginners. _ My mouth filled with a thick oily taste and my eyes drooped._Drugged _ I wondered if I could lean over enough to jump of the side of the , a wave of nausea hit me. My eyelids drooped as i fought the sedative effects of the drug. I held my breath and tried to concentrate on one thing. After a couple tries I realised that it was futile. _Well, I probably wouldn't get too far _I thought _the archers would get me before i could take my first step. _ I thought of causing a distraction but the effects of the drug overwhelmed me. The last thing I remember hearing was" Ah, you are finally awake," before I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

General Tullius allowed himself a sip of some Black briar wine._Finally_. The Traitor Ulfric had finally been captured. With the Stormcloaks on the move, the sniffling Emperor, Titus Mede the second had been cutting his salary. "_I think you need a greater incentive to put down that petty rebellion.I have reasons to think that you lack conviction that our cause is just. Is it that you actually think that those savages could be more right than us. I thin that it would be a good idea to cut your salary and remove all special privillages until those barbaric nords are put down. your prvillaages will be restored when you finally manage to end the rebellion."_ _Curse that weak spined excuse for an emperor_ he said to himself.

He still remembered the the day that lily livered excuse for an emperor had signed the white gold concordant. Those bloody elves rode up to the tower with their capes billowing in the wind. The weather had been dreadful that day. they talked of peace and prosperity, but everyone in the room could see their true vision, a world where the high elves enslaved the other races, a world without the great Talos almighty. He had advised the emperor not to give in to the demands of th thalmor, but to no avail, the king in his cowardice, signed the white gold treaty.

The empire had died that day, for its heart had been cut out. Although Tullius was a imperial, that did not mean that he did not respect the great Tiber septim himself. as a child, Tullius had idolized Talos. As an adult, Tullius admired his ideals and military tactics. He swore to himself that once the wretched rebellion had been halted, he would declare war on the Thalmor with or without the help of the emperor

The day had finally come. No more nagging from the accursed emperor, and no more salary cuts. General Tullius did not usually drink wine, but when he did, it meant there was cause for celebration

" Hey, its you again." I rubbed my eyes groggily. The effects of the drug had finally wore of.

The man who was speaking to me was a nord with long blond hair and a large frame. "You tried to cross the border, same as that horse thief over there, got caught in that imperial ambush.""Look, you and me, we should not be here. Its these stormcloaks the empire wants. If it weren't for them, I could have stole that horse and been half way to Hammerfell.

" What is his problem." I asked, motioning to the guy next me. "Watch who you are talking to, that ulfric stormcloak, the true High King. "thats Ulfric, the leader of the rebellion. But then, where are they taking us. Divines, please help." he prayed desperately. "Face your death with some courage, horse thief, a nords last thoughts should be of home." So the guy in front of me was the whole butch nord guy. Me on the the other hand was never really that good at fighting. "Rorikstead, I am from Rorikstead."

I gagged. It smelled worse than a pack of wild trolls. "Look, its the imperial general, and the damned the damned Thalmor are with them. Skyrim was fine until they came along." I saw a high elf with a haughty look on his face talking rapidly to another man in full imperial armor with three stars on his shoulder

" When I was a imperial towers used to make me feel so safe." " This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vealod is still making that mead from Juniper berries." I could tell that the horse thief wasn't fairing to well. He was pale and shivering all over. "Why are we stopping." he said with a panicked voice. " What do you think. End of the line.


	3. Sorry for the delay

**Sorry for the delay**

Sorry for the delay , but I Had final exams and I had to study. But now I have summer vacation and I will have more free time from now on. I am workin on the next chapter and may will publish by saturday.


	4. Chapter 2 Unbound

**I have not abandoned this Fanfic. I am still here. I just had Final exams, and then after school ended I had to go to pilgrimage I Thirupathi with some of my relations. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Any way after around 3 months, I am the chapter. Also the Character Sigrid Was from the divine Champion. Don't worry, It s not A copy, I just couldn't think of another Nord women name.**

Chapter 2: Unbound

"What's happening, why are we stopping," asked the horse thief of which I did not know the name of. "This can't be happening. This is not happening," mumbled the desperate thief

"What do you think, end of the line." _Shit._I needed a way to escape before I became permanently headless. I tried to catch Ralof's eye but he ended up ignoring me so I gave up.

"Lokir of Rorikstead," called out one of the the soldiers. He blue eyes and dark brown hair."No, I am not a rebel, you can't do this." The thief was almost sobbing at this point.

"Hold your tongue civilian, we are charging you of robbery, murder, and anything else

that Hadvar might be able to dig up," said an dark skinned imperial women as she motioned to the brown haired soldier. She had three stars on her shoulder pad. Now, I was no military genius but I could tell that she was a high rank. If Conner was here, he probably would have called me Captain Obvious. _She is probably a captain. Maybe even_ _a major, or a colonel._

"You're not going to kill me," said the thief as he sprinted forward. I shook my head. He wasn't going anywhere . The archers would cut him down in seconds. I prayed for his soul to reach Moonshadow.

The captain raised her hand slowly, almost lazily with and with a flick of her hand, cried out , "archers," before a set of two arrows deep into the prisoners back. One of the arrows severed his spinal cord between the 6th and 7th vertebrae. The second arrow was driven into the back of the head. The force of the shot caused the arrow to penetrated the skull and had punctured the occipital lobe of the brain. The thief was dead before he hit the ground.

The archer who had fired the second shot had been famous in his home town for his great skill in archery. It was on the suggestion of his captain that he had joined the legion. He accepted without second thought. A job in the legion was far better than the hunting and trapping that he had used to do

"Anyone else feel like running," asked the captain. When she saw that none of the prisoners tried to make a break for it, she smirked. _Good_. She wanted to get Ulfrics execution over with. She imagined the look on captain Mikkel's ugly face when she told him that she was the one who caught Ulfric Stormcloak.

I looked at the thief's corpse and tried not to loose my lunch. Althogh the first aroow hadn't done much, the second arrow had gone almost completely through the brain, and the wound was oozing some suspicious pink stuff. He would have died before he could even understand what was happening. The captain waved her hand and motioned for the body to be taken away.

I had on e last trick up sleeve. But it would hurt. _A lot. _"Ralof of Riverwood," called out the the soldier. "Looks like our time has run out," he said with a grim look._ Shit._

I slowly pushed my wrists apart, slowly, so no one would notice. The, I extended my claws as far up as my binds would allow.

"Who are you?" "The name is Dar" I said as I struggled to keep my features relaxed. "Captain, what do we do, he is not on the list," asked the soldier. _She was a captain. _I held my breath. _They might let me go. _"Screw the list," replied the captain, " he goes to the block,". _Shit. Shit. Shit. Well there goes that _I thought to myself. I had to think of another plan of escape

I curled my index fingers on both hands and slowly pushed my wrists further apart than they already were.

"Sorry. We will make sure that your remains return to Elesewere." said the soldier

"Thanks for the help," I said sarcastically as I prayed he would not see what I was about to do.

I bit my lip as the manacles dug further into my hand. _Ouch. Well here it goes_ I said to myself as I nearly dislocated my hand to get my chains off. _Dont see me_ I prayed. I managed in getting one hand out and nearly losing a wrist.

The deception was complete when I used a clever bit of magic to make it appear as though the chain was still on. I felt my Magicka ebb as the spell was cast.

Now, I was no expert at magic, but I could cast some basic spells. You know firebolt, lesser ward, that sort of thing.

_I remembered the first time I cast a spell. Conner was teaching me how to light a fire without some flint. He crouched down and started. "Magic is a way to do things easier. Like moving A bunch of wood easier." " Does that mean that we wouldn't have to move the wood for master." "Yes, but remember, when a spell is cast,the caster loses an amount of magickal energy. The amount of energy lost is equal to the skill of the caster. A skilled mage could continue to cast spells without losing any magical energy, while a novice could deplete his reserves on a novice spell." " Conner, are you a mage." "No, I am good enough to cast certain spells." He said. " You will always be the best to me" I said. He smiled and ruffled my fur._

I was brought back to the present by the voice of the one and only, General Tullius. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace." I heard Ralof next to me swearing. Although I couldn't hear everything of what he as saying, some of the words which he was using included "Imperial bastards", and "filthy milk drinkers."

The captain motioned to the priest of Arkay. " Give them their last rites," she commanded. The young priest stepped forward. I could tell that she was nervous. She was short and had a pale face. The colour of her hair was indistinguishable due to the large hood that she drew over her head. As she walked, her legs shook beneath her. " as we commend your souls to Aetherius and beyond, blessings of the-"

"Shut up already," yelled one of the soldiers. The priestess looked shocked. I could see her scowl, from where I stood. " Very, well then," she she snarled as a stormcloak soldier made his way to the block . _Analyse your surroundings_ I thought to myself as the captain pressed her foot against the small on his back. I couldn't see it that clearly from my location, but I knew that it had got to hurt.

I had started formulating a plan when, suddenly, I heard a distant roar echoing of The Throat of the World that sent chills up my spine.I didn't Know why the sound had aggravated me so much. I felt as though something had been freed in my chest that . I fought the urge to loose my lunch. _ It's nothing_ I assured myself when I heard the distinct _swish-thud_ of the axe taking yet another life.

"Next prisoner," called the captain. Her eyes panned over the rest of the others. _not me _I prayed to Azura.. I needed more time to work out the finer details of my plan. "You," she said as she pointed at me. _Azura preserve me._

Alduin's troubles had started with that foolish rebellion. As he ponderd the best punishments for those who opposed him, the obsidian doors of his palace flew open. A tall nord with a golden mask on his face entered. The man fell to his feet and groveled in front of the black dragon.

And why shouldn't he, pondered Alduin. Why shouldn't the joorre bow in front of the Dovah. The Dovah were made to rule, And the joorre were made to serve , I was just the way the world worked.

The man rose to his feat. The mask was more visible from the angle, and one could tell that was wrought through very skilled craftsman ship. Its cheek bones were high and gracefull, and its eyes were narrowed into slits. It was both regal and terrifying. The man waited the appropriate time before carefully saying his next sentences. One wrong word, and he would be dead. The man wiped his sweaty palms on his robes. Suddenly his mask, which on normal days felt comfortable, now felt hot and suffocating.

"Forgive me, master for bearing such bad news," He said with the tone of utmost subservience. "Chose your next words carefully, you are merely sentences away from destruction." This was true. A single spoken word of the dragon language could reduce an orc berserker to ashes. Vokun Started speaking again after a sufficient pause. It was customary in Alduin's that the humans could only speak to their dragon overlords first and could only speak again after the other replied. "The rebels have defeated our reinforcements," said Vokun. " Which reinforcements," asked Alduin in a terrifying roar. A bead of sweat trickled down the priests face.

"Gormlaith golden-hilt and her cursed brother have killed the dragon that you sent to the Monahven," said the man in a frightened voice.

Alduin let out a roar that shook the room. Vokun fell to his knees and groveled for mercy "Forgive me master," sobbed a terrified Vokun.

Alduin expressed his rage by releasing a pillar of flame into the sky over the great dragon city. He opened his wings, and launched himself into the sky. How could this have started. He remembered when the uprising started, he had thought that the rebellion would be quelled in less than a fortnight, But the rebels showed more resilience and intelligence than Alduin thought was possible in humans. Although the rebels could do a lot of damage to Alduin's empire, in the long run, Alduin would have defeated them due to his knowledge of battletatics and pure brute force. But what Alduin didn't count on was that his brother Parthurnax would betray him and teach the humans the Voice of the Dovah. How foolish, Alduin thought, that such a tiny and insignificant creature would be able to use something ass powerful as the voice.

One of his lieutenants named Numinax was unfortunate enough to find out first hand that humans could use the language from a nord named Hakon one-eye. The dragon was supposedly still alive and was imprisoned inside the warriors castle, but Alduin did not pay attention to such foolish bickering. He suspected that his faithful follower had met his end at the mighty warriors blade.

All these thoughts dissolved as as he saw the rebels on top of the Monahven. "Alduin, come down here, you big black worm," cried one of the rebels. He roared, who were these blithering joore to challenge the undisputed ruler of the world. He felt the thrill of the hunt fill in as he dove in for the kill.

Alduin was falling. He remembered how Feldir the old had stood over him as he struggled to move, helpless on the ground and chanted the twisted words of the kelle. The fight had not been easy for the rebels as Alduin had killed one of their kin , the one who thought she could best him, Al-du-in, firstborn of Akatosh.

At first he had felt a slight sensation in his stomach, but as the world disappeared around him, there was a familiar churning in his stomach. It was the feeling of a flight gone wrong, and a Dovah plunging to the ground. He felt himself get swept up in the currents of time. He let loose a roar that would have cowed a mammot. The last thing that he saw was Hakons shocked expression as he let out a breath of flame and disappeared through the time tunnel.

I was about to run and hope for the best when, when I saw it. It was a huge black beast. It had giant wings and a large powerful head. Its wings were the size of ship masts, The captain had just enough time to say "What in-" before the beast landed on the roof of the tower in front of me and started breathing fire.

It looked different than a regular dragon. Not that I had ever seen a dragon, but in the pictures, dragons seemed to be a lot smaller, and less scaly.

**Hi joore lost grik pahlok. Zu'u fen al hi. Yol Toor Shul**.

(You mortals have such arrogance. I will destroy you. You will burn(firebreath shout) )

The captain was frantically ordering an archer strike, when a huge gout of flames silenced her. The other soldiers scattered. Most of them fled to the safety of the buildings and houses. The others were burnt alive by the the beast flames, or were torn in half by its Talons.

I saw one of the soldiers running towards me and thought that he might arrest me, but the dragon fire got to him before he got to me. _Close call._

I recovered from my shock and followed the other prisoner Ralof to the keep, indifferent to the fight that was happening around me. "The prisoners are escaping," screamed one of the soldiers. _Are you kidding me, there is a dragon on the loose and all you care about is me. _I lunged towards him, but Ralof got to him first, hitting the soldier in the back of the head. The man collapsed like a sack of potatoes. I proceeded to rid him of all his worldly possessions. He was going to have a hell of a time when he woke up. That is if he woke up. Considering the two possibilities, I concluded that the first was more likely to occur, because the Dragon was less likely to attack him since he was not moving. Maybe he would thank me and Ralof for knocking him out and stealing his life. After all he would still be alive. 

"Come on, we got to get moving. Towards keep," said Ralof, breaking me out of my thoughts. He sounded desperate. _Yeah right._ Although it wasn't the best plan, I had no other Ideas. I wasted no time in following his orders and sprinted towards the keep doors. The doors opened with a grating screech. "Faster," mumbled Ralof under his breath as he jerkily pushed the doors. I could tell that he was just as scared as I was. When the gate finally opened, I could see that we were not the first ones to have that idea. Ulfric Stormcloak, and a couple of stormcloak soldiers had the same idea as us.

"What do we do," asked Ralof, Adressing the bear of Markarth.

"Just go, I will stay back and help the others," said the man. "But-"

" I said go," Said Ulfric with a firm tone, "and take Sigrid with you," he said motioning to a Nord women. She came toward me, "come on lets see if we can get those bindings of," she said in a heavily accented voice as she cut the bindings of. I let out an audible gasp of relief as I flicked my fingers back and forth. "Thank you."

Suddenly, a crunching sound came from outside. "We need to get out of here," said Sigrid with panic clearly showing on her face.

"Go down through the basement There is a tunnel that leads out of this hell hole, I will follow you with the others," said Ulfric. This time he did not argue, and sharply grabbed my hands and pulled me near the basement door.

The door was rotten, and several holes had been made in it. "The dragon. Could the legends be true," asked Sigrid, over the screeching of the door. "Legends don't burn down villages," replied a scowling Ralof. I could hear voices from around a turn in the path.

"We need to leave Helgen," said a younger voice, "Something isn't right." "Oh shut up and do what I tell you to," said an older, more cruel voice.

I motioned Ralof to be quiet by putting a finger to my mouth. He nodded and drew his axe as quietly as possible. Sigrid did the same with her sword. I motioned for them to follow my lead. Silently, I crept up around the bend in the path. As I turned my head, I saw that The younger voice belonged to a young imperial with dark hair, and the older voice blonged to a old imperial mage with lightning crackling at his fingertips.

The attack was over in instant, as the Khajit suddenly Attacked, causing as much noise, with two other nords following him into the room. The imperial mage was caught of guard. Before he had time to react, the khajits dagger punctured into the left lobe of the heart. It was not a pleasant way to go, as the mage remained alive until he bled out on the floor. Perhaps the last thoughts he had were that he might have done well to listen to his assistants advice and escape the keep. The other man, who had more time to react, drew his sword, but it was to late, as Ralof buried his axe into the mans neck. The imperial fell to the floor, dead.

I observed the room as Ralof and Sigrid relieved the Imperials of their belongings. The mage must have been a torturer, I noted with disgust, as I saw the different devices that were used to force the secrets out of stoarmcloak prisoners. Suddenly, I had a surge of Nausea, as I realised how bad it must have been to be captured I this place. I held the table for support. "Imperial Bastard, they will pay for this." "Aye, we will kill all those cowards," roared Sigrid

As I looked around the room, I saw a whip. I had to suppress the urge to loose my stomach as I remembered how how the slaves had been treated in my masters home.

"Come on we have to keep moving," said Ralof, "We have to move before the dragon brings the whole keep down on top of us." "But were is the way out?" asked Sigrid. " I Thin I can get that door open," said motioning to a large wooden door.

He ran up and banged the door with his shoulder with all the force he could muster. The door creaked but did not open fully. "On the Count of three," Ralof commanded, "One,Two Three." On three I drove my whole wait into the door. The hinges of the door shivered, then gave way to the onslaught.

As they Looked around, they had realized the had entered a small underground. "I guess that's the way out," said Sigrid. As we followed the stream more light began to filter in to the cavern. " I guess that's the way out," Said Ralof, pointing to a small opening that had snow piled at the mouth.

Thank Azura, I was beginning to think that I would never make it.


	5. Chapter 3:Riverwood

**Chapter 3**

Thank Azura that we made it. I was starting to think that we would never make it out of that pit of death.

" Thank Talos that we made it out," Said Sigrid, the relief in her voice was discernable.

"I think that we should speak to my sister, Gerdur, in riverwood. It's only a short walk away. She will be able to give us shelter until the imperials settle down.

"You live near this area," I asked, i thought that the Stormcloaks were from Windhelm.

"No, but most are from the north just like Sigrid here.

"Aye, I am from Windhelm. I have been serving Ulfric for over 5 years now," said Sigrid, her tone tinted with pride. "You should think of joining us. One does not have to be a nord to see that the empire is a shadow of its own self. I will vouche for your honour and I am sure that Ralof will as well," said Sigrid while she elbowed Ralof in the side. " Yes, yes i will," said Ralof suddenly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow passed over us. "Get down," said Ralof, as he pushed me roughly to the ground. Sigrid was more lucky. She had already been crouching, harvesting some nirn root when the dragon passed over, and had avoided being shoved by Ralof.

The beast passed over head and settled on the top of a mountain far in the distance. I heard a faint crunch of the snow under its talons. Even though the creature was far beyond the senses of any creature, we still remained still. _You can never tell._ Ralof almost rose, sure that the dragon would not be able to see us, but Sigrid motioned for him to continue crouching. "The thing may still be able to see us we can't know for sure." Ralof grumbled, "There is no way that creature can see us at this distance." "Maybe you are right, but can't know for sure."

A millenia seemed to pass as we waited for the beast to continue on its journey but it seemed content to remain on the mountain top until the end of time. The itch on my left thigh seemed to be multiplying every minute that I restrained myself from scratching it.

The beast continued to scan its surroundings with its eyes, without any movement from the rest of the body. The pupils were pitch black ovals surrounded by cloudy white irises. Sharp, bony ridges ran above each eye running all the way to the large curved horns at the back of its head. Another set of horns straighter and smaller run back behind the larger set.

For a second, the eyes of the monster seemed to meet mine and before I could contemplate running back into the cave before it attacked, its eyes moved seemed strange, but the beast's eyes burned with a sort of inhuman intelligence as though it were analyzing its surroundings. _If anything it just looks pissed. _I thought I could detect a bit of sorrow in its eyes, but it was so faint that for a moment I had thought that I just had imagined.

Eventually, something further away seemed to catch its attention, and it took off. I heard the raking of its claws against the dirt. I shuddered to think of the fate of whatever the dragon had just spotted. Whatever it was, scalded flesh and blackened bone would be all that would remain. Not even the worst criminal deserved such a brutal end.

Sigrid sighed, " The damn beast is finally gone," she said in a heavy nordic accent. _Nords. _I thought to myself, _Their tongues seem to stick to their their jaws as they speak._ I could hardly pretend that I could understand. I did not even know what they were saying half of the time. Ralof's accent was much less pronounced while Sigrids was much more northern due to the fact that she was from Windhelm.

" Come, I will introduce you to my nephew Frodnar. He is quiet a wild one," said Ralof with a chuckle. As we continued down the winding path, I noticed some large black ruins, on the opposite peak, no that far away from where the dragon had landed. "Bleak falls Barrow," said Ralof as he noticed the direction of my eyes, " It used to be a temple, built by the ancient nords."

"Nordic ruins, there always full of blasted Draugr," grunted Sigrid, "keep clear of those if you want to keep your head attached to your body."

I continued to listen Sigrid with interest as we descended down a slope and took a turn to the right. I could hear the birds chirping and i could smell lavender. I remembered Connor giving me a stalk of lavender the day that we were sold to Colcino. it was one of the last times that I had seen him. Tears stung my eyes. Suddenly, Ralofs voice snapped me back into reality.

"I used to have dreams of them when I was a child. I remember my mother tell me that if i did not clean my plate, the Draugr would come and eat me." said Ralof, with a hearty laugh, " I would always sleep with my bed close to the door, in case they came at night."

"Well, I would have my father's dagger with me if I had slept in your bed," said Sigrid with a smile on her face."

"No, You don't understand, I slept next the door so that I could run and get the battleaxe in case they came."

I listened to their bickering with detachment, as I contemplated what had happened to Connor when we separated. _Colcino probably killed him, get over it._

"I bet you couldn't even lift the battleaxe, much less fight with it."

The tears came without out warning, and did not stop until my entire body racked with sobs. Ralof instantly shut up as Sigrid talked to me.

"Dar, what happened? What's the matter?

"Nothing, it's just the whole situation," I said silently in my shame.

Ralof opened his mouth as though he was going to inquire further, but was cut off by a glare from Sigrids direction.

"Hey, we have reached Riverwood, come quickly I will introduce you to my Nephew." he said, desperately trying to change the topic.

I nodded weakly and followed him into the town. Sigrid trailed behind us.


	6. Chapter 4: Tullius

Chapter 4

General Tullius was having a bad day. He had rode back to Solitude and left Legate Rikke near the mouth of the Whiteriver with a sufficient army as to stop the Stormcloaks from taking advantage of the Generals absence. If Ulfric were to make his first move it would surely be to attack Whiterun. Whiterun was a strategic location from which Ulfric could launch an invasion of Morthal, and then Solitude. Whiterun was also a very central location in Skyrim and boasted of a large amount of trade with the other holds. If Ulfric wished to invade Whiterun, the fastest way for his army to enter the hold would be to march across the Whiterun. General Tullius would have been a fool not place Legate Rikke where he had placed her.

Tullius was beginning to doubt that his career would survive. As he started writing his letter to the emperor, informing him of the recent events, he started to regret the celebration that he had earlier that day. The bottle of wine that he had drunk earlier was now lying at a forgotten corner of his desk, away from all the battle maps and charts of the war. Suddenly, in a fit of rage he dropped his quill and swat at the bottle. It fell to the floor with a deafening crack. A glass shard stuck in the Generals hand. Tullius swore loudly.

Instantly a servant appeared with broom and started cleaning the mess that the general had just made. Tullius mentally scolded himself as he pulled the fragment of the glass from his flesh. Blood dripped out and fell on his letter, staining the parchment crimson. Scowling, Tullius tossed it into the waste basket and picked up the quill once again and started to pen his letter to the emperor on a different sheet.

He made the mistake of thinking of Chancellor Maro's face while writing and accidently dotted the dot of his I to hard which caused the tip of the quill to poke a hole in the parchment. He mentally noted not to think of the Chancellor the next time that he wrote a letter.

_Dear Majesty,_

_Emperor Titus Mede the second, _

_I regret to inform that due to a large unexpected complication, the rebels, including Ulfric were able to escape. I assure you that within a fortnight we will be able to put him back on a cart to Helgen, and this time nothing will be there to stop him. I have left Legate Rikke with a sizable army in the Whiterun_

_Your Loyal Servant_

_General Tullius._

He put his quill away and sealed the letter. He motioned for another servant.

"Give this Letter to the messenger, and tell him to deliver it to the Imperial city."

The servant nodded while silently cursing the general. The Messenger" referred to a tall redgaurd man named Wazir who readily bullied and made fun of the servants. The only reason that he was still working for the Imperial Legion was because General Tullius favored him and turned a blind eye to The Messengers shortcomings.

General Tullius smiled, knowing that the letter would reach its destination in less than five days.

The messenger's father, being a horse racer, had taught him how to ride at the age of six. By the time he was 15, he had very nearly won every medal in the entire Imperial district. He had won in many races with grown men, and was highly thought of as the fastest rider in the Imperial city.

It was General Tullius himself, who used bet heavily on horse races earlier in his career, before he was a general who realized the young rider's potential as a messenger and convinced him to join the Imperial army.

Initially, the redgaurd was skeptical, but with Tullius offering a large amount of money and with support from his father, he accepted.

The moon could be seen clearly from above the stables. .As the servant entered the tables, he heard the chatter of the Messenger and some of the other soldiers. Loud laughter could be heard as the messengers voice rang out amongst the ruckus. "Mar, I want to see those septims," He said with a smug smile on his face. As the servant approached he could see several army men gathering around a small bale of hay. The messenger sat on one side with several dice in his hands, while a greasy looking Imperial sat on the other side.

"I ain't owe you anything," said the greasy man, "You used a trick dice."

"If I don't see the gold by tomorrow, I let the General know about your secret stash of skooma. You'll be court marshaled before you can say the words _Moon Sugar_."

The other man raised his hands as a sign of surrender, "Ok, you were lucky this time , but you better be ready for the beating you'll get tommorow."

The redgaurd smirked, "You think you can beat me. I'm a master at this game."

"We'll see," said Marinius, as he and the rest of the men started dispersing from the stables and heading back to their homes.

The servant watched the men leave detachedly, waiting until The Messenger was alone he strode forward towards the Messenger.

"What do you want? Came to your senses and came back here for a game?."

"Nothing of that sort," he said, cutting him of before he said more, "Master wants a letter delivered to the emperor."

The Messenger looked didn't surprised. "I guess after what happened today…" he trailed on, "I guess Maro's probably going to flay him alive. Do you think he'll be demoted? Anyway, pass me the letter will you."

The Servant dutifully passed the letter to the messenger, thankful that he would finally be able to go to bed. It had been a one bad day.


	7. Chapter 5: Poker

**Chapter 5**

" Ralof your alive. Me and Hod thought that you had been captured." As Ralof sister spoke I studied the man and the boy next to her. The man was broad and burly, and had a handlebar blonde moustache. The boy was small and looked admiringly at his Uncle. Igrid was sitting on a log and I decided to join her, and let Ralof do the talking.

"How did you escape Uncle Ralof? Did you see Ulfric?"

"Lad, give me some time, I will answer all of your questions in time, but klnow I need you to do something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

" I need you to check if there are any imperials coming down the road."

" I won't let them sneak up them on you Uncle Ralof," said the boy as he dutifully ran towards the road

"You're telling me that a dragon attacked Helgen, asked Gerdur. The man next to her chuckled. "Please, the next thing that you'll be telling me is that a you saw a dwemer. I didn't believe that you would put your faith in a bunch of children's stories Ralof," said Hod with a smirk.

Ralof spoke calmly and with force, "it's not a joke Hod, we almost lost our lives to the beast. You can ask Sigrid if you want."

The man let out an uncertain laugh. "You sure you ain't drunk boy"

Gerdur glanced unsurely at the stormcloak officer. "What is it then?"

Sigrid hesitated, but finally spoke. "His right, we were attacked by a huge black beast on our way to the chopping block.

Gerdur gasped. Even the man, Hod or whatever his name was, turned pale. I contemplated the fastest way to chop Hod into small pieces with my knife as he talking about how we were all probably drunk.

Finally I lost my patience. "We were attacked by a dragon. Now if you stopped talking, we could do better things, such as inform the general public."

" I'm sorry lad, it's just that what you ask us to believe is rid-"

"Enough talk. If there's a dragon about, riverwood is in great danger. We must inform the Jarl," said Gerdur forcefully while glaring at Hod. I smirked.

Hod sighed, " Fine. You win. Now if you don't mind. I have some work to due."

Gerdur laughed. "By work do you mean going to the inn?"

"Well what do you expect, it's Loredas. I still have to beat Brunulf at Tiram. What do you say, Lad? Do you think that i should make it up to you for questioning you."

I smiled, " That sounds good. Unfortunately, they didn't play "Tiram" in the imperial city."

Hod looked as though he had seen a ghost. "That's downright criminal. Those milkdrinker imperials playing their the stuffy little " Poker". They need to learn how to play a real game."

"Actually Poker is quite good," I said, " I can teach you the rules."

"Hod, liste-"

" Is that so," said Hod loudly, " well, i'll have to trust you. Mind you, it better be good."

"Ho-"

I grinned. "It'll be good." _For me._ It would probably make a huge sum of money robbing Hod and his friends blind

" HOD, YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT CARD GAMES."

This time, me and Hod both turned to face Gerdur as though she had told us that there was General Tullius marching towards us.

" He has to inform the jarl of the dragon."

"Give him a rest, he just survived escaping an execution and crawling through a cave full of hostile monsters. He'll set of in the morning with Ralof."

I put on the most pitiful look that I could muster, which probably wasn't much because my lack of human facial features.

" Fine, you win. You depart first thing in the morning."  
" And why should I do that," I asked.

" Because your the only one other than Ralof that saw the dragon….. And because I'll reward you."

I grinned. Well that's settled, now i just have to teach you poker.


End file.
